


Ugly

by orphan_account



Category: Grojband
Genre: F/M, High School AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 16:52:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2199540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows that Laney likes Corey, except for Corey and his dumb new girlfriend. High school sucks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Change

High school was one of the worst experiences of Laney's life. She didn't think that freshman year; the first year of high school brought cool changes. Awesome changes.

For example, she grew an inch so she was now exactly five feet tall. Her boobs were now B-cup, which meant there was more boob per cup. Well, they looked bigger and bra sizes were confusing. Laney didn't understand them, but she had boobs. And, above all of that, her parents let her get her hair cut. 

Laney's hair was basically the same as before, except she got a side cut. She'd always wanted a side cut and since she was growing up, her parents let her. The side of her head was all fuzzy and she loved it. She stopped pinning her bangs with the clip and she started letting them hang free. When she looked in the mirror, she looked like a rock goddess. For once, she loved the mirror.

She would get up in the morning, smile at her hair, and get dressed. Ripped jeans and black shirt was all she needed, and man, did it feel great. She brushed her teeth, applied her make up, and she took off down the hall. Combat books? Check. Jacket? Check. Bookbag? Check. And lastly, a s'mores poptart? Hell yeah, check. That began her morning, and her days at school.

The changes were good at first. But then more came. Corey, Kin and Kon started hanging around girls. Other girls, pretty girls, and they would always show up late to band practice. Laney would watch as they texted these pretty girls in awe. Corey was swooning. Laney was fighting her feelings, because she was not a pretty girl.

Sophomore year was painful, because all the pretty girls were swooning over Corey. They wore red and pink lipsticks while Laney wore black. She wore ripped jeans and black combat boots and black band tees. She ditched the green shirt when she learned that Corey's least favorite color was green. (She wished she could change her eyes but she had no other reason for contacts.)

It started on a Thursday, a very painful Thursday. It rained hard as soon as Laney woke up that day. She was kicked out of the lunch table just so Ashley Sill could sit with Kin, Trina wouldn't let her sit anywhere near her, Nick Mallory let her but of course, Trina hit her in the eye with a tater tot and she decided she didn't want to eat lunch.

Her classes sucked. Laney got an answer wrong and didn't raise her hand again, Miss Gregor said her painting was the worst in the class, she forgot there was an English test today, and Chemistry was hell. Her lab partner for this nine weeks was Josh Walker, and he for some reason he hated Laney. Today he insulted her under his breath the whole lab. She asked him a question and he called her a dumb cunt. She broke out in tears and ran out if the class room. Corey didn't notice or care, one of the two, and she didn't come back.

Then, band practice was in session. Everyone was there except Corey, but that was normal these days. An hour late, he burst into the garage with a cheesy grin, and he announced, "Anna Collins just asked me out!"

Everyone stopped dead. Kin's eyes grew wide. "The senior?"

"That one and only," Corey cheered, biting his lip. "This is great, guys! She wants to come listen to our band sometime. We might get popular and we could totally score more gigs."

Laney's head felt funny. She set her bass down and staggered down from the stage. She couldn't handle this right now.

"Where you goin', Lanes?" Corey asked, walking up to her.

She grabbed her hoodie and tried to put it on without swaying, but she ended up falling on the couch. Corey reached out to help her, but she pushed him away. "I'm going home," she spat.

"Why? What's wrong?"

Everything that happened today swirled around her she suddenly couldn't breathe right. Laney staggered a bit, her jacket now on inside out. 

Corey tried to sit her down, but she pushed him away. "Lanes, sit down before you get hurt," Corey shouted.

He couldn't reach her in time. She turned to yell at him, but her head spun worse and she fell to the floor, fading to black.

When Laney woke up, she was in Corey's room. She glared at the ceiling. All her childhood years were spent in here, playing with cars and trains and play doh. She swooned over him then and she still swooned now. Too bad he swooned over a pretty girl.

"Laney!" 

The girl lay still in Corey's bed. She was too stressed out to move. There was no way in hell that she was going to get up and pretend everything was okay.

"Lanes?" Corey sighed from outside the door. "I don't know why you're all upset and everything, but my dad said you'd seemed more stressed than usual lately." There was a pause, a chance for Laney to speak. She said nothing. "Whatever. Your mom's on her way... No band practice tomorrow cos I have a date with Anna. I hope that's okay."

Laney buried her face in the pillow and screamed. It was muffled enough to where Corey heard nothing. The girl just cried and prayed that her mom was on her way.

Anna Collins was at least ten times prettier than Laney. She had hair down to her waist that was red, but curly and beautiful. She always wore a dress with flats or heels, and everyone loved her. Everyone wanted to be, look like, or be friends with Anna Collins. She was the cousin of Nick Mallory, and that made her even better.

Laney glared at the mirror on Corey's wall. Stupid, stupid mirror. She wasn't a pretty girl. Her own mother thought she was ugly. Laney buried her face back into the pillow, letting a wave of hopelessness crash over her and drown her.

Drowning in the waves, Laney breathed in her failures and sank to the bottom. Ugly little Laney wasn't a damn thing.


	2. Soul Crusher

There was now no where for Laney to sit at her own table. She realized this Monday when she walked up to the table with her lunch and all the seats were taken. Corey had his arm hooked around Anna Collins, and the other two had their girls over as well. Kon was dating some girl that had the same comic book and anime interests, and Kin had found a science geek to swoon. Both, of course, were prettier than Laney.

"Sorry, Lanes," Corey said as he looked up from his sandwich. "We're full."

"I see that."

"I know Nick Mallory's table is open." He smiled, like everything was going to be alright. Maybe he thought that sitting at Nick Mallory's table would solve all of the problems. Maybe, if Laney just sat down right beside the infamous Nick Mallory, she would suddenly be super happy, super pretty and just really rad. It seemed as if he stopped caring because he turned right back to Anna and have her a peck on the cheek.

Laney didn't speak. Her chest felt like it was caving in, but she didn't do anything about it. She assumed that it was just her heart breaking again, like it always does. Thirty one heart breaks this week and it was only Monday. When she was thirteen, she couldn’t even imagine dealing with that many heart breaks. It wasn’t like Corey noticed her back then, but it wasn’t like Anna Collins draped over him like a cheap suit back then, either. She stormed off to the trash cans and threw all her food away before rushing to the bathroom.

Trina and Mina were in there, doing make-up and talking about Nick Mallory. That was their typical. Trina sat on the countertop, painting her nails. It was the same as every day. The same pink nail polish was applied, and the same conversation about Nick Mallory spilled from her lips. Wishing to be invisible, Laney rushed past to get a paper towel and wet it. Her eyes were watering. She knew she was going to wipe her runny makeup off her face any second now. 

"Look what the cat dragged in," Trina muttered, causing Mina to erupt in giggles.

Trina had changed a lot. She was a junior, and she was still gorgeous. Her pink hair was always wavy and beautiful, showering past her shoulders. She didn't always wear dresses; jeans and amazing scoop necks were her legacy. She was the only girl in the entire school who could wear what she did and have it be attention-grabbing. Her only competition was Anna Collins, except Anna was probably a little nicer.

"Wiping off all that gunk from your face?" Trina picked. "Did you finally realize that Corey hates that shit?"

Laney ignored her the best she could. She wiped off her eyes and then her lips and stared back at the ugly girl in the mirror. She didn't like that. Laney was a human too, and she had feelings. She was also a girl and she had girl feelings. The ugly little girl longed to be pretty. Was that too much to ask for?

But then she realized that Trina was right. Corey didn’t want a girl that had a face full of black, punk makeup. He was a normal-looking boy that just wanted a normal-looking girl. She suddenly regretted everything. She regretted cutting her hair, wanting black lipstick, wearing too much black eyeliner, wearing boy clothes that left her body shapeless…. The ugly girl turned away from her reflection and wiped the tears that fell. 

She looked over at the big makeup bag that sat in front of the others. There was so much in there. Bottles of foundation, lipsticks, eyeshadows, tweezers, sponges, everything needed to make a girl pretty. She dried her face and stood before her best friends' enemy. "Trina?"

Trina rolled her eyes and closed up the bottle of pink nail polish. "God, what do you fucking want?"

Laney looked down at her feet incase she was going to cry. She wasn't in the mood for replying in snappy remarks today. "Could you make me look pretty?"

Trina softened. "Jesus Christ, Laney, can't you realize I'm joking? You usually have something to say and I have a reputation to uphold."

"It's not you," she mumbled. "I just wanna look pretty when I look into the mirror."

Trina and Mina exchanged looks. It took a few seconds of looks and gestures. Finally, Mina pulled away and grabbed a handful of paper towels. "Sit up on the sink."

It took the rest if the lunch period but it paid off. Instead of eyes coated in black on top and under with a thick wing, Trina did a thin little line with a thin wing on the end, and added black mascara. Nothing was caked on at all. Instead of black lips, she now had red lips that Mina thought looked great. The ripped jeans and the black combat boots stayed, but instead of a band tee with skulls and knives that didn’t show off her shape, she wore a white t-shirt with black stripes. "I had it as a spare but I grew out of it," Mina said with a smile.

When they were done, they stood back and admired their work. Laney grinned and Trina sighed happily. "You are officially beautiful, Laney. Go knock 'em dead."

And she did indeed knock 'em dead. As Laney walked down the hall, she turned heads. Everyone whispered about her. Everyone looked at her. All eyes on pretty Laney, not ugly Laney. She felt successful. For once in her life, she wasn’t an ugly piece of shit. Right now, she was a pretty piece of shit, and that was all she asked for. 

She got an answer right in math and in Chemistry, her partner burned himself because he was too distracted looking at her. Then, of course, Nick Mallory approached her as she was just about to close her locker and walk home.

"Hey, Lanes."

Only Corey called her Lanes. She looked up, expecting him but got Nick instead. No big, she assured herself and smiled back weakly. "Hey."

"You, uh, tried something new with your makeup. May I ask why?"

Laney fiddled with her hair a bit. "Oh... Uh... Well, I just decided to be pretty for once, and--"

"Nick Mallory thinks you're beautiful, but Nick Mallory also thinks your other looks was awesome, too. Just be yourself, Laney Penn." He handed her a scrap of paper and winked before walking off. 

Resting in her hand was Nick Mallory's phone number.

Laney ran to the parking lot and tried to find Trina's car. If she was lucky, there was a small possibility that she would find her right before they left. She ran like crazy, searching for the sacred pink car, and she found it just as it was pulling out. "Trina!" she yelled, tapping on the window. "Hey, can I bum a ride?"

Trina rolled her eyes. "We're not friends, Laney."

"We are now." She threw open the door and sat down in the back. "Hey, bestie."

Trina groaned and turned around to look at her. "Just because I did your makeup doesn't mean we're friends, you fucking-"

Laney held up the scrap of paper. "Nick Mallory gave me his phone number and I think you should get the digits, too."

Trina's eyes lit up. "Jesus, Laney, you're a fucking miracle worker." She took the paper and squealed. "Okay, that's it. Laney, you're officially a bestie. Mina, this weekend, we're having a sleepover. You’re in charge of cupcakes."

"And, I want you to teach me how to do my make up like this.... And curl my hair. I want to look punk but pretty at the same time."

Trina remained cool, stuffing the number in her pocket and putting the car back into gear. "Laney, you have a deal."

Band practice was over early thanks to Kin having to go meet up with Sara, and Kon decided that he'd better head home and get a jump on his essay. Corey and Laney were there alone, awkwardly holding their instruments.

Corey cleared his throat. "I, uh, like your make up," he choked out, strumming a chord quietly.

Laney blushed. HELL. YEAH. That meant so much more coming from Corey than it did anyone else. She grinned at her feet. "Thanks."

The front man finally put his guitar down. "Uh.... Wanna go get some grilled cheese?"

"No." Laney dug in her back pocket for money. "Buuuut, we could walk down to Frozen Freddie's." She waved a ten dollar bill around and Corey's face lit up like it usually did when he got excited. Her heart leapt out of her chest when she saw that face. That boy was he Corey she knew. 

"Hell yeah, Lanes."

Laney Penn was a smart girl. She knew damn well that Corey loved Frozen Freddie’s more than anything. Their ice cream was so great, so creamy, so perfectly chilled and fresh that he went nuts just ordering. Their walk down was pleasant, except for the fact that Corey was getting pissed because people kept cat-calling Laney.

“Hey pretty girl, how about a smile!”

“Hiya there, sweetie, nice ass!”

“Nice legs, lemme see them spread!”

To make things worse, as a guy passed the two of them, one grabbed Laney’s breast and winked right at her. Corey yanked him back and shoved him down on the edge of the sidewalk. He raised his fist, but Laney jumped in. “Whoa! Core, let him go.”

Corey spit on him with a glare. “People who treat girls like toys are disgusting.”

Laney pulled him away and they continued their walk. “I know, Core, but that doesn’t mean you have to kill him.”

“He just groped you without permission and I’m the bad guy?” he snapped.

Laney crossed her arms, suddenly insecure. “It’s happened before and you only care now because I look different.”

Corey snorted. “It’s never happened before.”

“Yes, it--”

“No one gropes ugly girls, Lanes.”

They both froze. Corey could feel his heart in the base of his throat. “No, no, Lanes, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Laney didn’t know what to say. As her best friend sputtered and stammered, trying of think of a response, she just felt her heart break for the thirty second time. She pulled the ten dollar bill out of her pocket and placed it in his hand. “You know what, Corey? Get yourself some ice cream and maybe while you’re at it, get your pretty girlfriend some. Your ugly best friend is going home.”

“Lanes-” Corey tried to grab her wrist but she yanked away, crossed her arms again and walked home, her body shaking from every sob. Corey called after her loudly. She couldn’t hear over her own pain.

“I’m home,” Laney called out as she walked through the front door. “Mom…? Dad…?”

“In the kitchen!”

Laney kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen. Her parents would appreciate her. Her father sat at the table and read the paper while her mother made dinner. They were a typical family on the outside. Mom made the dinner, and dad read the paper. But that wasn’t it. Her father ran his own business out of the basement. He would sew custom dresses and he repaired other clothing. A few kids would come be an “apprentice” and learn from him every so often, and it really kept the “Penn Homemade Clothing and Repair” alive. Her mother, on the other hand, was a very powerful and popular lawyer. She handled many cases and one all of them, unless she firmly believed they were wrong. In that case, she fought for justice. She always got what she wanted, though.

Laney sat at the table. “Hey, mom, can we go shopping?”

“What for?” She turned to look at her daughter and instantly gasped. “Honey, you look beautiful! Oh, did you drop out of that punk phase?”

“I don’t want to wear boots and I don’t want to wear baggy shirts and I don’t want any more black lipstick,” she sniffled, rubbing her eyes. “I want Converse and I want shirts that show off my shape and I want pretty makeup and I want to be all around pretty and I want to crush the soul of Anna Collins and I want Corey to think I’m pretty.”

Her father looked over his paper and at his daughter. “Honey, you’re already beautiful. And if you want to crush the soul of Anna Collins, shouldn’t you keep the boots?”

“I want to crush her by being ten millions time prettier than her,” Laney breathed, trying to calm down. She rested her chin on her arms that were folded on the table. “I’ll do extra chores and I’ll earn everything. But I really wanna look nice and--”

Mom threw the entire pan in the garbage can. “Alright, then. Paul, get your shoes on.”

Laney looked at the trash can and then up at her mom. “Uh, what about--”

Mrs. Penn just smiled brightly. “We’ll get Chinese and then walk the mall. Sounds fun! We can get you a pair of converse and maybe some shirts. You said makeup, so we’ll get that too… Need any jeans?”

“The jeans stay,” she mumbled.

Mrs. Penn grabbed her purse. “Alright, my two little darlings. Let’s go help Laney crush Anna Collin’s soul.” She smiled warmly at her daughter and for once, she was ready to max out that credit card. Laney smiled and put her combat boots on for the last time.


	3. No Chance of Doc Martens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that it's been forever! I hope this is okay enough to last a while! I'm working on chapter four!

Chinese food was always Laney’s favorite. She used her chopsticks and devoured a plate of bourbon chicken, lo mein, a spring roll, and of course, shrimp. That was the usual, but today wasn’t a very usual day.

The waitress came up a few times and smiled at Laney, a plate in her hands. “Muah Chee,” she said, setting the plate in front of her. “Compliments of the gentlemen over there.”

The waitress gestured and Laney’s eyes followed. A small table of teenage boys waved and winked and Laney just rolled her eyes. “Thank you,” she told the waitress.

Laney got four plates of Muah Chee and she was ready to pass out. She could my even finish half of the first plate. She just didn’t like it. She asked for a box and of course, she didn’t really want to carry it around. She walked outside of the mall and found a homeless person pushing a cart of all his things. “It’s Muah Chee,” Laney told him, handing him the pack and a set if chopsticks. “Sorry I couldn’t get you a fork.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you, miss.”

That was the end if supper. Laney joined her parents in a walk around the mall, and of course, they had their credit cards ready. Mr. Penn spotted the shoe store. “I’ll be right back with Converse. High tops?”

The reforming girl looked up. “See if they have red?”

He nodded. “I shall return, dear.” He walked off, his wallet prepared for this battle.

Mrs. Penn pulled her daughter into the most popular store in the mall. Prices were dangerous, the enemy lurked in the shadow, trying for the same discounts everyone wanted. Laney looked up at her mom. “I don’t know what I want… I’m sorry, mom.”

“Nonsense.” She was pulled over to the juniors section. “Pick out some shirts.”

“What would look nice? What size do I wear? What are my good colors?” Laney looked through the rack and found a grey shirt with “67” on the front in navy blue. It was a scoop neck, it was shapely, and it looked okay. She looked up at her mom. “What does 67 mean?”

“Put it in the basket, dear. We’re getting what mommy thinks would crush Anna’s spirit.”

“Soul,” Laney corrected.

“Oops, my bad. We’ll crush that soul of hers, darling, don’t you worry.” She patted her child on the head and they both tackled the clothes rack.

Laney pulled out multiple shirts that would have looked nice; one was a red, three-quarter-sleeve with white polka dots, she got a black, lace shirt and a black cami to go under it, she got a cute slouch shirt with a skull on it, and many more striped shirts that complimented her shape. Mrs. Penn bought her some push-up bras to really kill that Anna’s soul.

They were just a it to check out when Mrs. Penn saw what she thought was the missing link. She grabbed every black, pleated skirt off of the shelf and stuffed it into the basket. “Laney, we need to get you some leggings.”

“Skirts?”

“Sometimes, a skirt can crush a person. You can wear these in different ways, sweetie. And either way, you’re going to kill it.”

Laney thought about it. “Hmm… No leggings, mom. I may have short legs, but they’re still legs. I’m going to knock ‘em dead.”

They walked up to the counter and bought three hundred dollars worth of clothes. Mrs. Penn paid cash, and Laney had two giant bags to carry. They met up with Mr. Penn who bought Laney three pairs of Converse (red, black and navy blue), and two hundreds dollars worth of band tees.

“These are all in girl sizes,” her father said. “They’ll look great, honey and you can still be you.”

Band tees? Girly-ish? Crushing Anna Collins’ very soul? Hell yeah. Laney peeked inside the bag. “Will they go with the black skirts I got?”

He nodded. “They’ll be perfect. Now let’s go get some make up.”

Laney thanked god for rich parents.

When they got home, Mrs. Penn sat with Laney in the bathroom closest to her room and they practiced makeup. Laney knew the routine; wash, lotion, foundation, eyeliner (thin line and a wing), mascara, then the lipstick. It seemed like a lot, but Laney was able to do it in under ten minutes and it looked amazing. She shaved her legs and moisturised, then tested her outfit. It was a Ramones shirt, which was burgundy and had the band’s “seal”on it in white. That with a black, pleated skirt and the navy blue Converse sneakers. She smiled as her parents admired her looks.

“Oh, darling,” her mother sniffled, “Anna’s soul will be dust.”

That was all that Laney needed to hear.

The next day, of course, school was full of whispers. Who could blame them? Laney was beautiful. She was a punk goddess, and boys were throwing phone numbers at her feet. Trina quickly met up with her, and they ruled the school as she knew they would. But it wasn’t the school that Laney wanted. It was Anna Collins’ soul.

As Laney stopped off at her locker before lunch, Trina leaned against the locker beside her and messed with her curls. “Listen, Laney, about Nick–”

“I really have no interest,” Laney said. “I can tell him to go for you. You practically deserve it and all. Plus, you’re way more his type than I am.”

Trina admired her words but her topic was the same. “Well, I know Nick really likes you, okay? I think you should go on a date with him. I guess he wanted to double date with his cousin and Corey. You could like totally crush Corey on that date. I mean, if you can’t have Corey, then why does Anna deserve him?”

She was shocked. Trina? Saying that Laney should date Nick Mallory? She didn’t even like Nick Mallory. She was barely even friends with him. The only real conversation they had was when he gave her his phone number. That was it. Nothing more than that short, brief moment.

Laney closed her locker and glanced at Trina. “I don’t know. She’s prettier and older and taller–”

“So is Nick Mallory.” She smirked and pulled away from the lockers. “C’mon, Laney. It’s high school. You have the looks, use them. Gain power and junk.”

So that decided it. Laney strutted right past her old table without a glance and sat down right across from Nick. He smiled. His blue eyes lit up and he grabbed her hand, kissed it, and looked right back up. “Couldn’t say no to the charm, Miss Penn?”

“Something like that.” More like, she couldn’t say no to crushing Corey’s soul either.

The rest of the day was a slice of cake. Trina didn’t give Laney a ride but Nick was there in a heart beat. He swooped in and gave her a ride to band practice. They hugged and she jumped out, only to have Kon and Kin leave Corey and her alone. Once again. She was about to run back out to Nick’s car but he left. He was stuck there with the blue-haired jerk once again. She sighed and grabbed her bass. “Hey.”

“I’m really sorry about yesterday. I really am.” He sat beside her and hugged her. “I didn’t mean to call you ugly, cos you’re really pretty and I’d like to make it up to you.”

“It’s fine,” she said, awkwardly hugging back. “I get it, I wasn’t close to being pretty. But I changed so don’t worry, you’ll believe me when I get harrassed this time.”

Corey groaned. “Lanes, that’s not what I’m saying.”

“Well, it’s what you implied yesterday.” She pushed him off and set down her bass. Holding out her arms, she exploded. “See? I changed just for you and everyone else, Core. No more ugly makeup, no more huge band tees, I got ones that fit like shirts and not dresses this time! And I’m also wearing a skirt. Those combat boots? I threw them away.”

“What about the money you were using to save up for your Doc Martens?”

“I blew that on liquid eyeliner,” she hissed. “Granted, my parents were rich and they could easily buy me some, but I wanted those so bad that I wanted to earn them myself. I babysat for five Saturdays, Corey, and I was so close to having them. I was so close to paying for those and the express shipping, but no. I only got stupid makeup so I’m not ugly anymore.”

“You weren’t ugly, Lanes!” He sounded like he was begging. In a way, he was. He was begging her to believe him, to truly understand that she wasn’t ugly. But she wasn’t going to believe his lies. “Laney, Lanes, please. Believe me. You’re pretty, okay?”

“Not as pretty as Anna,” she shot back. “And she doesn’t wear Doc Martens, does she?”

“I-”

“Does she?” she snapped.

Corey lowered his head. “No…”

“Just drop it,” she pleaded, grabbing her bass again. “I don’t even know the real me anymore, so lets just drop it.”

“I’m sorry.”

Corey was, but Laney wasn’t.


	4. Power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! This is long overdue, but here it is! Chapter 4. If you could, be a babe and go check out my other corney fic "Room To Breathe". Thanks!

"Laney finally grew out of that punk phase," her mother said quietly, not knowing her daughter was on the stairs, listening to them. "She's beautiful."

"What if she's not happy?" Mr. Penn asked. "Laney is young, and she might be doing this just to fit in."

"Enough." Mrs. Penn sighed. "I cannot handle negativity. Our daughter is finally growing up. Think about it, Paul. We’ll be able to buy her a beautiful prom dress, or soon she’ll be asking if she can have boys over. She’ll wear floral and be beautiful. She’s finally herself."

"We don't know that for sure."

"Drop it," she told him again.

"I don't want to wake up one morning and find her hanging from her neck!"

Mrs. Penn slammed the pot down on the burner, causing food to go flying everywhere. "Enough! Our daughter is finally pretty and that's all that matters! I’m sick and tired of having an ugly daughter! She no longer wants to smear her make-up and she no longer wants to pierce her nose! She’s ours and she’s not ugly anymore!"

Laney choked on a gasp. Her tiny, shaking hands covered her mouth and she trembled. Her own mom thought she was ugly until she changed. She fought the tears and made her way back to her own room.

She had millions of texts on her phone. Some from Corey, some from Nick, and more from Trina and Mina. Trina and Mina were telling to check her snapchat, Corey was apologizing, and Nick was asking her on a date.

Snapchats, apologies, and dates were not her cups of tea. In fact, she didn't even like tea at all. But she was supposed to be a new person so opened the stupid app and sat back in her bed. There were no new snaps, so she checked the stories. Corey had gone snap-crazy. She touched the screen and that was the very moment her heart broke.

"Anna, we should get couples tattoos."

"Okay. What are we getting?"

"I don't know, I was joking."

"Well, maybe we can get couples shirt instead? Those are less permanent."

That was the end of the first one. The next one was worse. Corey and Anna stood there in "I'm with her"/"I'm with him" shirts, arms around each other. Corey kissed her cheek and Anna giggled.

The next one was Corey playing the acoustic guitar as Anna sang softly. Laney dropped her phone to the floor and let it stay. She couldn't hand this, not right now. The work as she knew was falling apart. Everyone thought she was ugly. Everyone hated the old look that she loves so much, and loved the new look that wasn't really her.

Laney cried quietly, to herself and under her breath, as she shoved all of her old clothes into a garbage bag. Her shapeless shirts were gone. No more tees, no more flannels, no more sweatshirts. She dragged the bag down the hall, yanked down the attic stairs, and took one step up. “I’m not going to be ugly anymore,” she hissed under her breath.

She felt betrayed. Her parents only took her on the stupid shopping spree because they wanted a normal daughter. She threw the clothes in the corner and kicked them. “I’m the ugliest little girl in the entire world,” she told herself. “It’s me! I’m ugly! I’m not going to be ugly anymore! I’m going to be amazing! I’m going to beautiful and they’ll all be sorry.”

Laney climbed down, her makeup running down her face and her lip quivering. The girl felt torn. She was pushing herself to be something she wasn’t… It felt amazing!.... yet draining at the same time…. Who cares?... Laney kind of did…. NO, she DID NOT.

She tore through her room to find anything she could use. It seemed like forever before she was able to find something. No longer would she be the cute little girl with the skirts and the fan-girl attitude. Band shirts were no more. Miss Laney Penn was breaking out the clothes that her mother bought her for holidays and birthdays, all the clothes she never wore before. There was so much there. She smiled at everything. Lace, floral, sparkle, and amazing designs. She felt powerful (after she fixed her make-up). 

Wearing an off-the-shoulder crop top from last Christmas and a cream-colored skater-skirt, Laney felt even more powerful. She laced up those converse and ran down the stairs. Her mother grinned when she saw her. “Oh, Laney… you look beautiful.”

“I have this old cardigan I wanna wear,” Laney said lamely, “but Converse don’t really match. I need someone to buy me some flats.”

Her mother grabbed her keys before she could say anything. “Yes! Of course, dear. I’ll take you wherever you want to go, alright?”

That was how Laney realized that with this power of finally being pretty, she had the world at her fingertips.


End file.
